Documenting References Using the APA Format

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APA-Style In Text Citations

The American Psychological Association (APA) endorses a name-year in-text parenthetical reference the citation system for articles published in its journal. “Name-year” means that only the surname of the author and the copyright year are used. “In-text” means that the citation is within the text itself (as opposed footnote references In other systems, such as the University of Chicago/Turabian System, where the citations are given at the bottom of the page). “Parenthetical reference” means that the citations are (often) enclosed in parentheses.

1. Paraphrased or summarized sources. A paraphrase is the replacement of technical or difficult-to-understand words with similar but simpler words (or those closer to the author's writing style). A summary is a short version of the reference containing only the important points; it is about one-third (1/3) of the length of the original. Both paraphrases and summaries are the researcher(s)' own words. A reference, whether paraphrase or summary, should be cited.

People from the Mediterranean prefer an elbow-to-shoulder distance from each other (Morris, 1977, p. 131). [Author's name, date, and page cited in parentheses]

Desmond Morris (1977, p. 131) notes that people from the Mediterranean prefer an elbow-to-shoulder distance from each other. [Author name cited in text; date and page cited in parentheses]

2. Short quotations. Quotations are exact copies of the original author's work. These are enclosed in quotation marks (“ ”). Quotations should be used sparingly, only if the author's words are so perfectly written that these would lose their power when paraphrased or summarized. Generally, quotations in the APA format should only be four (4) lines long. Quotations should be preceded by some introductory words. The in-text citation should follow immediately the quotation.

A recent report of reductions in SAD-related “depression in 87 percent of patients” (Binkley, 1990, p. 203) reverses the findings of earlier studies.

Binkley reports in SAD-related “depression in 87 percent of patients” (1990, p. 203).

3. Long quotations. Quotations longer than four lines (or forty words) should be written as “displayed quotations”. Displayed quotations are not enclosed in quotation marks but placed one single space (SS) after the introductory words. Displayed quotations are also written single-spaced (as opposed to the body of the research paper, which is written double-spaced (DS). Displayed quotations are also written one (1) tab mark after the left margin.

Jet lag, with its characteristic fatigue and irregular sleep patterns, is a common problem among those who travel great distances by jet airplane to different time zones:

Jet lag syndrome is the inability of the internal body rhythm to rapidly resynchronize after sudden shifts in the timing. For a variety of reasons, the system attempts to maintain stability and resist temporal change. Consequently, complete adjustment can often be delayed fir several days—sometimes for a week—after arrival at one's destination. (Bonner, 1991, p. 72).

Interestingly, this research shoes that the number if flying hours is not the cause of jet lag.

4. One Author. Give the surname of the author, the year of publication, and the page number; separated by a comma and a space.

Examples: (Ramos, 2005); (Ty, 2006, p. 3); According to Ramos (2005)....

5. Two authors. Give the surnames of both authors, separated by an ampersand (&).

Examples: (Ramos & Ty, 2006, pp. 114-115); Ramos and Ty (2005) claim that...

6. Three, Four, or Five authors. Give the name of all authors in the first citation; for subsequent citations, use the symbol et al. (Latin, et alii, 'and others').

First citation: (Ramos, Ty, & Uy, 2005, pp. 164-165)

Subsequent citations: (Ramos, et al., 2005)

7. Six or more authors. Give the name of the first author (as it appears in the list of authors) followed by et al., even in the first citation.

8. Author(s) with two or more works in the same year. Alphabetize the titles of their works (in the References List) and assign letters in alphabetical order to the years: (1996a), (1996b), (1996c) and so on.

Most recently, Jones (199c) draws new conclusions from the results of 17 sets of experiments (Jones, 1996a, 1996b).

9. Two or more authors with the same surname. For each citation, include the initials of each author who share the same surname.

R. A. Smith (1997) and C. Smith (1989) both confirm these results.

10. Work with group or corporate author. Use the name of the corporation, agency, group, etc. as the “author”. Give the full name of the group in the first citation with the initials enclosed in square brackets ([ ]). In the subsequent citations, use the initials of the group.

First citation: This exploration will continue into the 21^st century (National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA], 1996).

Subsequent citations: (NASA, 1996)

11. Works listed by title (Publications and articles). If no author is cited, use the title of the reference. If the title is long, use the first three (3) significant words of the title.

“All students are expected to be in proper uniform and display their school IDs while on campus” (Philippine Christian University Student Manual, 2009).

(In the following example, the title of the full article is “Are You a Day or Night Person?”)

The “morning lark” and the “night owl” connotations are typically used to categorize the human extremes (“Are You,” 1989).

12. Reference to more than one source. If multiple has contributed to an idea, give the citations within the same parenthetical citation, each separated by a semicolon (;).

Conceptions of personal space vary among cultures (Morris, 1977; Worchel & Cooper, 1983).

13. Non-retrievable sources (e.g., e-mail, telephone calls, personal letters, interviews, etc.). Non-retrievable sources are references that the readers cannot access or retrieve. Use the words “personal communication” and the complete date in the in-text citation, but not in the References List entries.

Recalling his first summer at camp, one person said, “The proximity of 12 other kids made me—an only child with older, quiet parents—frantic for the entire eight weeks” (A. Weiss, personal communication, January 12, 1996).

14. Online sources. When quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing an online source, cite the reference as if it is a print reference. If no author is cited, use the name of the website or the title of the online article. In the in-text citation, indicate the URL using “Retrieved: <http://example.com>” and the date it was viewed using “Accessed: (Exact date)”.

(Guerrero, July 24, 2014, Retrieved: <http://instructionalminutes.blogspot.com/how-to-use-instructional-minutes.html>, Accessed: January 29, 2015).

All references used in the research paper should be cited in the References List (except for non-retrievable sources in number 13).

APA-Style References List Entries

In the American Psychological Association format, the References List (also called a Bibliography in other systems) list down all retrievable references cited in the whole research paper, whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. (Non-retrievable sources, such as those marked as “personal communication”, are not included.) The References List begins on a new page, and lists down the references in alphabetical order by the surname of the authors (or the title of the publication, or the name of the corporate author as the case may be). Entries are written using a hanging indent style; that is, the first line is flush to the left margin while any subsequent lines are one (1) tab mark after the left margin. An entry is typically composed of: 1) author's surname and initials, 2) date of publication, 3) title of the publication, 4) Place of publication and publisher. For online sources, it also includes the access date and the URL.

In the APA format, titles of publication are written in italics (or in underlining) with lowercase letters, except for the first letter of the title, any proper nouns, and the first letter of subtitles (separated from the main title with a colon [:]). Titles of articles are enclosed in not enclosed in quotation marks (“”) and not italicized.

1. Book by one author.

Troyka, L. Q. (2002). Simon & Schuster handbook for writers (6^th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

2. Book by two authors. Use the ampersand (&) between the names of the two authors.

Strunk, W. Jr. & White, E. B. (2000). The elements of style (4^th ed.). MA: Allyn & Bacon.

3. Book by three or more authors. List the name of the first six authors; substitute et al. for all subsequent authors.

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2010). Introduction to Linguistics. Singapore: Cengage Learning Asia.

4. Two or more authors by the same author(s). The titles of the publications from the same author(s) should be arranged alphabetically.

Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences: The theory in practice. New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21^st century. New York: Basic Books.

5. Book by group or corporate author.

Philippine Christian University. (February 2009). Philippine Christian University student manual. Dasmariñas, Cavite.

6. Book with no author named (cited only by title).

The Chicago manual of style (14^th ed.). (1993). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

7. Signed article (with author) in a reference book. Cite the name of the article (e.g., “Freud, Sigmund” below) and the title of reference book.

Burnbam, J. C. (1996). Freud, Sigmund. In The encyclopedia of psychiatry, psychology, and psychoanalysis. New York: Holt.

8. Unsigned article (without author cited) in a reference book. Use the title of the article in place of the author.

Russia. (1994). The new encyclopaedia Britannica. (Vol. 10, pp. 253-255). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

9. Unpublished thesis, dissertation, or research paper. Include the words "Unpublished undergraduate thesis" (or "graduate thesis" for master's degree or "doctoral dissertation" for the doctoral level, etc.) and the name of the school it was submitted to.

Arcibal, N. C. (April 2013). Housewives' exposure to Koreanovelas on GMA 7 and their perception on marriage. Unpublished undergraduate thesis. Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite.

10. Article from periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals, etc.). The title of the article should be written in normal case, without quotation marks; followed by the title of the periodical. Give the exact date of the publication (daily, weekly, or monthly, as the case may be.) Note the date format as year-month-day. The place of publication and the publisher do not need to be cited.

Wyatt, E. (1999, December 3). A high school without a home. The New York Times, pp. B1, B7.

Bonner, J. T. (1999, March). The evolution of evolution. Natural History, 103(3), 20-21.

The numbers after the title of the periodical are the volume number (italicized) and the issue number (in parentheses), followed by the page numbers.

11. Online sources. If the article was written by a group or corporate author, see 5. above. If only the name of the website was cited, see 6. above. If only the article title was given, give the title of the article and the name of website as in 8. above. Give the retrieval date and the URL (web address).

Guerrero, G. T. (2014, July 24). How to use Instructional Minutes. Instructional Minutes. Retrieved: January 29, 2015 from: http://instructionalminutes.blogspot.com/how-to-use-instructional-minutes.html.

R E F E R E N C E

Troyka, L. Q. (2002). Simon & Schuster handbook for writers (6^th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Writing in the Discipline - Parts of a Research Paper

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A research paper has three basic parts: the Introduction, the Discussion, and the Conclusion.

INTRODUCTION

The sections within the Introduction are: Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Significance of the Study, and the Definition of Terms.

Background of the Study. This section should contain a discussion of any or all of the following. (N.B., The following are not section headings under Background of the Study.)

Presentation of the problem – Describe the existence of an unsatisfactory condition or a problem that needs a solution.

Rationale of the study. - Give the reason(s) why the study should be conducted.

Historical background of the problem. - Give the historical background of the problem, if applicable.

Geographical conditions of the study locale. - If applicable, describe the geographical location of the study.

Example:

MARKETING THE PHILIPPINES AS AN EDUCATIONAL DESTINATION  

FOR NI-VANUATU UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In 2004, the researcher migrated to the Philippines to accompany her spouse who was at the time studying at the Adventist Institute for International Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in Silang, Cavite. They discovered the study opportunities and were motivated by the quality of education and low school fees being offered. They visited several colleges and universities to collect pamphlets and sent them back to Vanuatu for educational awareness. The Ni-Vanuatus became aware and decided to send students to study in the Philippines. The first two schools to receive Vanuatu students were AMA Computer College in Dasmariñas, Cavite and Air Link Aviation College in Parañaque City. The researcher came to know Cavite State University (CvSU) in 2009 and transferred from AMA.

(Ngwele, March 2011)

Statement of the Problem. This has two parts: the general statement of the problem and the specific sub-problems. The general statement of the problem is stated as a declarative sentence while the specific sub-problems are given as questions.

Example:

Statement of the Problem

This study is conducted to discover the how sociolinguistic factors influence the use of Hebrew among Jewish-Filipino children studying at Beth Yaacov Synagogue, Makati City.

Specifically, this study attempts to answer the discover:

1. What is the level of language proficiency of the children?
2. What language(s) do the children speak?
   a. at home
   b. at school
   c. when watching television
3. What is their attitude in language learning?
   a. for learning new things;
   b. being a good member of one’s family,
   c. being a good religious person,
   d. being respected by others, and
   e. communicating with others?

(Guerrero, 2011)

Significance of the Study. List down who will benefit from the study and how.

Example:

Significance of the Study

The study will provide some insights and information on the effect of watching Korean dramas on housewives’ perception on marriage. Also, the useful and relevant information acquired from this study will stimulate awareness on housewives on the possible effects the message weight after their beliefs and attitudes.

Married couples. The study would be beneficial to them since they are married and they would be able to understand each other more and be more aware of each others feelings toward a certain topic.  

Future researchers. The study would serve as their reference in their research study which could be beneficial and similar to this.

Housewives. Since they are the participants, this would help them to know more and be aware in Korean dramas’ effects in their lives as well as their perception on marriage and family life.

(Arcibal, April 2011)

Definition of Terms. Give the definition of words used in the title of the research paper.

Example:

Definition of Terms

Exposure. It is the fact or condition of being exposed (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2004). In this study, it is the one where housewives are involved to Korean dramas.

Housewife. It refers to a married woman in charge of household. Another meaning is a married woman who manages the affairs of her own household as full time occupation (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2004). In this study, they are the participants and the ones to be observed.

Korean drama. It refers to televised dramas, in a miniseries format, produced in the Korean language. Many of these dramas have become popular throughout Asia and have contributed to the general phenomenon of the Korean wave, known as Hallyu and also “drama fever” in some countries. Most popular Korean dramas have also become popular in other parts of the world. In this study, they were the ones the housewives watch and were being studied about.

(Arcibal, April 2011)

DISCUSSION

In the Discussion part of the research paper, researchers present their findings from library research and field research according to the order of the specific sub-problems given in the Statement of the Problem.

Each reference from library research, whether from the physical library or the electronic library (i.e., the Internet, need to be cited using the American Psychological Association (APA) format (see next lecture).

Example:

DISCUSSION

In this study, the researchers used descriptive research in order to find out the mobile photography habit of selected young people in Cavite. In order to gather primary data, the researchers use a questionnaire.

The respondents of the study were students from different places in Cavite. They are students 13 to 19 years old, from the secondary to tertiary levels. These respondents live in Indang, Dasmariñas, Tanza, Rosario, Silang, Cavite City, and Imus. Purposive convenience sampling was used to select the respondents.

Table 2. Usual subjects in taking pictures

Subjects	No. of Respondents
Myself in different poses	59
Views of places that I go to	47
Friends and family	63
Others	1

 

The study reveals that a majority of the respondents usually take pictures of family and friends. This is because Filipinos are family-oriented and they are loving to the friends.

More than half also said that they like taking pictures of themselves in different poses. According to Erik Erikson (in Papali, nd), in the said age bracket, 13 to 19 years old, people are said to be deciding about who they are, what life is all about, and where they are going on in life. This is also the stage of developing emotional competence that is seen as when they become more skillful at presenting their emotions to others (Larson & Richards, 1994).

(Daco, et al., March 2011)

CONCLUSION

Summary. This is a brief review of the major points of your discussion. Avoid merely repeating the statements made in the discussion.

Example:

CONCLUSION

Summary

A majority of the young people in the study are fond mobile photography and consider this as their hobby. They usually take pictures of family and friends; themselves in different poses; and views of places they visited. They do this in order to express themselves and to reinforce connections between them and family and friends.

(Daco, et al., March 2011)

Conclusions. Discuss the principles learned from the study. Again, avoid merely repeating statements from the Discussion. Present these in the order the specific sub-problems are given in the Statement of the Problem.

Example:

Conclusions

1. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that Smile, Dong Hae was the most preferred Korean drama being watched everyday by the 41 housewives (58.6%), which means that they were highly exposed.

 

2. The housewives perceived marriage positively as shown by nine positive answers out of 15 indicators which means that the perception on marriage was not affected by the exposure of the participants to Korean dramas.
 

3. Moreover, using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient in this study, it was found out that there is no significant relationship between the housewives’ level of exposure to Korean dramas on GMA 7 and their perception on marriage.

(Arcibal, April 2011)

Recommendations. These are appeals to help solve problems. This may also include recommendations to continue good practices or systems and an appeal for further study by future researchers.

Recommendations
 

1. The government of Vanuatu should use social media as a marketing strategy to influence Vanuatu citizens to focus on the study opportunities in the Philippines as an educational destination.

2. The government of Vanuatu should promote the Philippines as an educational destination because of the quality of education, affordable school fees, and the similarity of the Filipino and Vanuatu cultures (compared to those in Australia and New Zealand).

3. Cavite State University should use English [for teaching and business transactions] during official hours to make both local and foreign students proficient in English.

4. Further studies should be made on the preferences of other Pacific islanders like those from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands studying in the Philippines.

(Ngwele, March 2011)

REFERENCES

Calderon, J. F., & Gonzales, E. C. (1993). Methods of research and thesis writing. Mandaluyong: National Bookstore.

Arcibal, N. C. (April 2013). Housewives' exposure to Koreanovelas on GMA 7 and their perception on marriage. Unpublished undergraduate thesis. Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite

Daco, K., Bolilan, M. C., Tanael, G., Bernardo, J. C., Sialsa, D. & Vista, J. A. (March 2011). The effects of mobile photography to selected young people in Cavite. Unpublished undergraduate research paper. Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite.

Guerrero, G. T. (2011). Sociolinguistic factors influencing the use of Hebrew among Jewish-Filipino children. Unpublished master's degree thesis proposal. Philippine Normal University – Manila.

Ngwele, H. (March 2011). Marketing the Philippines as an educational destination for Ni-Vanuatu university students. Edited by G. T. Guerrero. Unpublished undergraduate research paper. Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite.